It would be easy to slit your throat.

You’re vulnerable, asleep in your cot, and everyone else at the camp is looking away. Shar’s teachings say soulmates are to be disposed of. Shadowheart knows she should prove herself to her goddess, she should kill you—her soulmate—and be done with it.

But she can’t. Shadowheart takes a step back, nearly stumbling away from your tent. She can’t. A branch snaps beneath her foot. She could never hurt you.

She makes enough noise to wake you up. The dagger is hurriedly put away. She can still feel the weight in her hands. It’s taunting her.

“Sorry,” she says once she realizes she’s woken you up. “Didn’t realize you slept so soundly.”

Of course she realized it. That’s why her initial plan was to kill you in your sleep. If she didn’t look you in your eyes, she could do it. She was so certain she could.

But the idea of losing you forever has her spiraling. You’re the other half of her soul. How is she meant to part with that? Shadowheart doesn’t want to doubt Shar, but…

“I should go.”

… her heart feels too heavy.